The Crow: Pestilence Issue 2 Review

Salvador is supposed to be dead, brutally killed for not throwing a boxing match in exchange for money...but The Crow brought him back to avenge the retaliatory murders of his wife and child.

He seeks the SDC, a savage gang running drugs and women into America from Mexico. As he exacts his revenge, can he find peace knowing he's done right by his family...even in the face of his own role in their deaths?

Review

After being impressed with the first issue but coming away feeling something was missing, I was still excited about getting hold of the second installment.

I went in to this one wondering where they were going to take the tragic story of Salvador and I have to admit that this issue did flow a lot better than the first. We got to see some great character work for Salvador himself, which surprised me quite a bit. I was thinking that maybe he was going to be a bit of a thin character in this installment of the long running series of 'The Crow' comics but this issue really went a long way in to changing my mind about that. I loved the fact that he wasn't as innocent as some of the others have been, he didn't come across as perfect in the slightest. I really liked that because that to me added another layer on to him instead of just having him be whiter than white so to speak.

There were quite a few advances story line wise in this one too that moved the story along nicely and at a slightly faster pace than the first issue. One of the strongest parts was the fact that they added in a slightly more religious / supernatural over tone to the bad guys motives while not going for overkill.

One of the things that took me out of the story a bit was the fact that some of the panel work here didn't seem to be as on the ball as in the first issue. In fact, there were a couple of moments where some of the smaller panels seemed a little blurry and rushed, especially in the facial expressions. That is a real shame because it really took me out of the story a bit. That said, there were only a couple of moments where that happened and plus, it wasn't awfully drawn at all, just felt a little rushed compared to the rest of the issue.

All in all, the writing really improved on this issue and gave me, as a reader and fan of the series of 'The Crow' comics, a lot to be excited about with issue three. It's a shame that some of the art didn't seem to be up to the better standard set by the writing itself.